By Chief Malcolm Emokiniovo Omirhobo_
I state my position without apology or equivocation: the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) entered into between the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the French tax authority, Direction Générale des Finances Publiques (DGFiP), is constitutionally improper, democratically illegitimate, and a direct assault on Nigeria’s fiscal sovereignty.
I fully align with the position taken by Northern Governors and respected Northern leaders, not as a sectional cause, but as a constitutional duty owed to the Nigerian State and its people.
Let it be said plainly: taxation is not technical cooperation, taxation is sovereign power. By Section 1(1) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution, the Constitution is supreme and binding on all authorities and persons. No agency of government including FIRS may exercise power outside constitutional limits.
Under Sections 4 and 5, legislative and executive authority over taxation and fiscal governance vests exclusively in Nigerian institutions accountable to Nigerians, not foreign governments. Yet this MoU was executed without being laid before the National Assembly;
without legislative scrutiny; without public disclosure; and without constitutional authorisation.
This is not reform. This is executive overreach cloaked in diplomatic language.
Any agreement with a foreign sovereign authority that touches governance, revenue systems, or national data cannot be smuggled into effect under the euphemism of an “MoU.”
By Section 12 of the Constitution, international agreements affecting Nigeria’s governance architecture must be subjected to democratic control through the National Assembly. Calling it “technical cooperation” does not change its substance. The Constitution looks at effect, not labels.
Under Section 37 of the Constitution, Nigerians are entitled to privacy.
Taxpayer data is among the most sensitive information a state possesses.
Revenue intelligence, tax databases, and fiscal systems are national security assets. Any arrangement that risks exposing them directly or indirectly to foreign influence is reckless, indefensible, and unconstitutional.
Nigeria is not a laboratory. Our tax system is not an experimental field for foreign bureaucracies.
Under Section 162, revenue collection and allocation are constitutionally regulated and implicate the Federation, States, and Local Governments. Yet an agreement capable of influencing tax administration was executed without legislative involvement and without regard to constitutionally recognised stakeholders.
That is not governance. That is constitutional vandalism. Nigeria does not lack tax professionals. Nigeria does not lack legal frameworks. Nigeria does not lack indigenous technological competence.
What Nigeria lacks is political discipline and constitutional restraint. France cannot give Nigeria political will.
France cannot enforce Nigerian tax laws. France cannot cure elite impunity. What this MoU represents is dependency dressed up as reform.
Accordingly, I demand:
- Immediate suspension and termination of the FIRS–DGFiP MoU;
- Full public disclosure of the agreement and all implementation frameworks;
- National Assembly intervention and investigation under Sections 88 and 89 of the Constitution;
- A binding policy that Nigeria’s tax systems, data, and fiscal architecture shall remain 100% Nigerian-controlled;
- Investment in indigenous Nigerian capacity, not foreign fiscal supervision.
Nigeria cannot claim sovereignty while outsourcing the instruments of sovereignty. Any government that cannot trust its own institutions to collect taxes has already surrendered authority. This MoU is constitutionally indefensible, politically reckless, and historically regressive.
The Northern Governors and leaders are right. This agreement must be terminated not renegotiated, not managed, but stopped.
*Signed:*
_Chief Malcolm Emokiniovo Omirhobo_
_Legal Practitioner|_ _Constitutional Lawyer|_ _Public-Interest Advocate_
_Lagos, Nigeria.
Comment:
Matters Arising from Coming Tax Reform Policy go beyond Transparency in Financial Econometrics to question of Nigeria’s Sovereignty.
